Vincent "Van" Hurd
Vincent "Van" Hurd was a contestant on Season 6 and Season 17 of Hell's Kitchen. On season 6, he ranked in 6th place, and on season 17, he ranked in 10th place. Personality Van was very energetic, funny, and was always there to charm the audience. He is also hot-headed, as he almost fought against Jean-Philippe. In the kitchen, he was one of the strongest links in the blue team. On season 17, he had the same energy, charm, and comedic edge since his first appearance, but toned down his temper over the years, tending to smile when nervous. Ramsay also made one of the most controversial decisions of the show's history by eliminating him instead of Elise or Barbie. Season 6 Episode 1 When receiving some tips from Season 3 contestant Aaron and a clip of him crying before service, Van called him a sissy. Then, Ramsay revealed himself and ordered all the chefs to cook their signature dishes. While getting in the kitchen, he declared it was game time. Before tasting the signature dishes, Ramsay announced that for the first time ever, the Signature Dish Challenge would occur as a regular team challenge, with each contestant going head-to-head. Van was the last person of the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Sabrina. He served his seared Foie Gras with minted caramel, which Ramsay praised for its creativity and complexity. He won the round against Sabrina and clinched the victory for his team. The blue team won the challenge 3-2, and were rewarded with a dinner on the Hell's Kitchen patio, where they would eat dishes from Ramsay's London West Hollywood, in Los Angeles. During the reward, Van dared Louie to jump in the hot tub, which he did. The next morning, because the blue team drank too much and not studied the menu, they were slow to do their prep, with him saying he had to chill out a little bit and that there was something in the champagne that was good. He was seen lost while peeling a piece of cheese. During dinner service, Van was on the fish station with Jim. He was not seen much, except at one point when he rallied behind Louie, who was struggling on the meat station. After the latter's elimination, he compared the situation to a bad dream, and Ramsay shut down both kitchens. When the teams were lined up, Robert joined the blue team, and Ramsay declared the blue team winners for serving a few entrées out, compared to the red team's zero. At elimination, Van and his teammates said goodbye to Robert, who was just integrated on the red team. Episode 2 The next morning, both teams got down in the blue kitchen, where Ramsay introduced the Shrimp Cleaning Challenge. During the challenge, Van was annoyed by Lovely's way of cheering her team while sitting out, saying she should shut the fuck up. He was the second person from the blue team to have his shrimps judged by Ramsay, and scored 9 points. The blue team won the challenge 45-44, and they were rewarded with a day at Newport Beach for a lunch of seafood, shrimps and raw bar with Ramsay, and a dessert on a 40-foot mega yacht. Van was excited as he never saw the Pacific Ocean before in his life, and said he was California dreaming. On the yacht, he talked, along with Jim, about how cool it was receiving tips from one of the best chefs in the world. When the teams were lined up before service, Van was dedicated to serve the shrimp scampi tableside during service. He was excited, stating that his charisma would help him get through service, while Ramsay told him to not bench-press the tables and give the customers an old-fashion Texas smile. When service began, Joseph, Kevin, and himself motivated each other, and before he went to the dining room, he asked Ramsay for some rags. But, Ramsay told him to fuck off in the dining room, before asking who would get him toilet paper after he sat down on the toilet, which he answered himself would get some. He also acknowledged he had to stop asking Ramsay for stuff, before going to his station in the dining room. When Tony served his scallops, Ramsay told he could fire up his shrimps in the dining room, but moments later, Tony came to tell him the scallops were raw and he had to refire them. He did not appreciate and told Tony to move. Later, Jean-Philippe came to Van and gave him some tips, but he did not appreciate that interfering and aggressively told Jean-Philippe he was working. Ramsay spotted the argument between the two of them, and went in the dining room to ask them to keep it cool in front of the customers. After, he picked his cart and went to a red table, which Jean-Philippe told Ramsay about. Ramsay called him to the hot plate and asked him to give a scampi special to the right table, before asking what was the matter between him and Jean-Philippe. The latter told there was a language barrier, but Ramsay reminded he was speaking English like him, before Jean-Philippe told it was because he was from Texas. After that, he apologized to the red table before going to the right one. Moments later, he was working on his scampi appetizers by telling the customers to watch their eyebrows and that his shrimp was "Van-licious". However, at one point, his pan dropped and shrimps fell on the floor, and when he tried for a second time, the same thing happened. When he went back to the kitchen to get another pan, Jean-Philippe told him not to run in the dining room, but he did not appreciate that comment saying he would not let him tell what to do. When he was about to go back in the dining room, Jean-Philippe started to lose his patience and aggressively asked him to listen. The two of them were about to fight each other, before Ramsay pulled both of them in the pantry room. Jean-Philippe told Ramsay that he was not having any respect for the dining room, but he did not even care what Jean-Philippe was saying. Ramsay schooled both of them and asked them to do their own jobs so they would come together. When they got out of the room, Jean-Philippe sarcastically told him "Ladies first". Near the end of service, he went to the fish station to help Tony, who was struggling. Because there was five men on the fish station and a lot of struggle in both kitchens, Ramsay ordered both teams to send shrimp cocktails to the dining room, and shut down both kitchens. When both teams were lined up, Ramsay named both teams losers, and asked them to nominate two people each for elimination. During deliberation, Van was considered by Jim for almost punching Jean-Philippe in the face. He confronted Jim, saying he would punch him in the face and that he could suck his dick. After that, he angrily mimicked Jim, left the conversation and was calmed down by Robert, before going on the patio. Van was not nominated for elimination, which was delayed until the following episode because of the infamous Joseph incident. Episode 3 After Joseph's departure and Tony's elimination, Van and his teammates welcomed Robert, who has just been transferred to the blue team as they were two men down. Back in the dorms, the chefs went to bed, trying to get some sleep, but very early in the night, alarm bells started to go, Sous Chef Scott, holding a flashlight, told everybody to get out of the restaurant immediately as an emergency was called. Then, fire trucks arrived to Hell's Kitchen and the chefs got outside. But, Ramsay was standing with the firefighters, revealing that it was a fire drill. He introduced the Firefighter Pasta Meal Service Challenge, and all the chefs got back in the dorms to change. Van was pumped and excited to feed the firefighters and work as a unit. During the challenge, he was working on entrées, and declared the blue team could not lose while cheering for Andy by telling to push. Unfortunately, the blue team eventually lost the challenge, and they were punished by cleaning the fire trucks left by the firefighters, as well as their equipment, and they would continue by cleaning the dining room inside. Arrived outside, Van, along with Jim, Andy, and Dave, was dedicated at cleaning the trucks. After the punishment, he expressed concern about Kevin and Dave, who sustained injuries during the day, as both of them were two of the blue team's best cooks, and added that dinner service would go down because of their injuries. The next day, during prep, Van was confident as well and said the blue team needed to move fast during service. When both teams were lined up, he was pumped as he jumped up and down a couple of times. During dinner service, he was on the appetizer station. When Ramsay called out the first ticket, he was confident to be on appetizers and that he had to set the momentum for the team. He became very vocal quickly, communicating with Robert and telling him to drop his scallops. Then, he took a big bite of pasta to taste, and yelled at Robert to go fast. However, Ramsay was not impressed by his shouting as it was confusing everybody, he apologized, sent his first risotto to the pass, which was deemed delicious by Ramsay. He celebrated, Ramsay urged him to continue that way, and he and Kevin gave each other a fist pump. The blue team eventually won the service for having a 83% above average rating from the customers, compared to the red team's 81%. Episode 4 Back in the dorms, Van trash-talked about Andy, saying that he was hanging by a thread, that he could not hand the pressure, and that he almost lost the service for the blue team. In his bed, he talked with Kevin about it, saying that they should get those fools out of there. During the Sausage Strings Challenge, Van was paired up with Andy, much to his dismay as he compared Andy to a knucklehead, and said he would rather be paired up with anybody else from his team. While the two had communication problems, they were able to get two of their strings accepted with him yelling that failure was not an option for the blue team. Despite that, the blue team lost the challenge 4-6 and had to clean up the dorms which included the bathrooms, carpet, and kitchen. Back in the dorms, he and Kevin were frustrated with their loss, but told Kevin and Robert to keep it together when they were arguing. During punishment, he complained how most of the chefs were slobs for leaving all their dirty dishes everywhere, their food everywhere, and the terrible smell in the bathroom, all while calling it hell. During prep, after Dave told the team that he had to leave to get a cast for his fractured wrist, Van said that the blue team could not afford to lose anyone else and said that they were crippled. During dinner service, he was on the garnish station. He got annoyed with Jim who was taking too long on the amuse-bouche, and during the final ticket, he had some help from his teammates, and they won service because of it. He later thanked his team for their help. Back in the dorms, he and the blue team mocked Suzanne's play by play request. Episode 5 When Ramsay announced that their next service was a Welcome Home Party for Staff Sargent Otis James of the United States Marine Corp, Van said that it was a real honor. He was not seen much during the Welcome Home Planning Challenge, but his team won the challenge 2-1. They got to fly in fighter jets and at the airfield, he said that they had he need for speed. During the Welcome Home dinner service, Van was on the appetizer station with Andy. Together, they managed to serve all of their appetizers with no problems. Later that night, one of his pans was smoking, leading Ramsay to help him out. His team won service as they served all their entrees before the red team could and were sent to help the women out. Episode 6 During the 700 Calories Challenge, Van paired with Jim on their entrée dish. The blue team lost the challenge 1-3 and had to collect the ingredients for the red team's dishes from a local supermarket on a six-person bike and had to prep both kitchens for that night's service. During punishment, he got aggravated as things were going poorly that day and got concerned over Robert's health as he left to the hospital before service began. During dinner service, Van was on the dessert station. He was not seen much that night though he did say that Jim was cooking like a zombie and was showing no emotions. Both teams were named joint-losers and had to nominated one person for elimination. Van was not nominated for elimination. Before he announced who their nominee was, he asked where Robert was. Episode 7 Before the Hell's Kitchen Craps Challenge, Van asked what the covered object behind Ramsay was but knew that Hell’s Kitchen was unpredictable. He rolled an A and chose angel hair pasta. During the challenge, he felt that Dave was trying to to compensate for choosing figs in the first place by prepping them, but he and Kevin were amazed when the figs added to the tomato sauce tasted great. They won the challenge and went to Las Vegas which excited him as he never went to Vegas before. They went to the Palms Casino and Resort and stayed at the Hardwood Suite. During prep, Van noticed that the red team's mood was low and said that the blue team did not need Robert. He and the blue team were not happy to see Robert come back. During dinner service, he was on the fish station. Despite his confidence as he worked as a fish cook, one of his sea bass was sent back for having plastic on the skin. It happened again later that night and was lectured by Ramsay to pay more attention to his dishes. He also took the chefs table's order for the fish entrée, but struggled to explain to the chefs what the items were exactly. His team lost dinner service after Ramsay shut it down, was reminded of his poor performance on the fish station, and Dave was named the "Best of the Worst" for the blue team. Van was Dave's second nominee with Robert as the first, and was soon joined by Andy. Ramsay reminded him about his plastic incident and when asked if he had peaked, he argued that he has not and stated that Ramsay’s twenty years of experience knew talent. He survived elimination as Ramsay sent him back in line. Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Van was not nominated for elimination, but Ramsay nominated him, along with Ariel and Suzanne. After sending Ariel back in line, Ramsey eliminated him due to his back to back failures. Ramsey's comment: "Van may be a poissonier, but his performance on fish was anything but Van-tastic." Episode 15 Van was picked for Kevin's team. He excelled during service, taking over Amanda's station when she messed up, but it wasn't enough, as Dave eventually won. Season 9 Episode 13 Season 17 Episode 1 As he was the only representative from Season 6, his prior interactions with his fellow All-Stars were limited to the black jacket team from Season 9, featuring Elise and Jennifer, competing in service against a selection of returning chefs, featuring himself and Ben from Season 5. During the Signature Dish Challenge, he was the first chef to score 5 on the signature dish challenge. But Elise, who went against him with lobster, was equal to the task. The blue team won the challenge. Episode 2 Van's steak tacos was one of the top four in the bar menu contest, but he ultimately lost immunity to Milly. He did not make any significant errors in service and the blue team won, although they lost their teammate Ben, who was ill. Episode 3 Before the opening sequence, he called the red team "ratchet girls" for their constant in-fighting. This term stuck until he was eliminated from the show. During dinner service, he was responsible for one of the few speed bumps in the blue kitchen, by taking too long on a salmon when the rest of the order was ready. The blue team won dinner service. Episode 4 Before the opening sequence was played, he flirted openly with Barbie. During the punishment, Van lost his respect for Josh, who revealed he was a celebrity chef who only worked 3 hours a day. Van himself remembers the significantly longer workdays he put up with to get where he is today and believes Josh hasn't learned to sacrifice as much as he. During dinner service, he was helping Josh, who was flustered, causing Van to yell at him on the risotto and call him a little bitch on the confession cam. He also laughed at Josh in a confessional when Ramsay "punished" Josh for cooking risotto not to order by making him eat it with VIP guest Paige Van Zant. Despite having trouble communicating with Josh, he was not nominated after the blue team lost the service. Episode 5 During the Plank Cooking Challenge, Van was the only one from the blue team assigned to barramundi. He smoked it and added a nicoise salad on the side that featured eggs boiled directly in the fire pit, a risky move that actually paid off and earned him a point for the blue team. The blue team went on to win the challenge in a tiebreaker. Van served salmon rillette table side with Barbie. Episode 6 Van was caught smiling after Ramsay chewed out the blue team. Ramsay took him to the pantry and angrily berated him, asking him if he was ready to go home and stating, "It's not a time to laugh!" Van profusely apologized and told Chef Ramsay he respected him a lot as he stated that he laughed when he was nervous, but should probably stop doing that. Even though Ramsay was irritated by Van's casual attitude during service, he was OK with Van not getting nominated, as he considered Jared faking an injury to be a fireable offense. Episode 7 Van was allowed to forgo the Cook For Your Life challenge along with Benjamin and Nick. Episode 8 During the cave meat challenge, Van's boar dish earned a point for the blue team. The blue team won the challenge 2-1. Van wasn't highlighted much in this episode's dinner service, but it was likely the best non-black jacket dinner service in the history of Hell's Kitchen, as everyone was working well together and every dish the blue team sent up was cooked to perfection. Episode 9 During the Fishing Challenge, he was excited to be assigned to Dover sole, but the fish fell apart as he was cooking it. Despite this, he scored over Barbie in the final round after guest judge Michael Cimarusti asked him if he was feeling lucky. Dinner service was a different story, as Van failed to respond when Ramsay asked him for ETA on the salmon. Then he proceeded to bring the salmon up overcooked. Ramsay screamed, "Van is shut down!" Van was not nominated for elimination, but joined Milly and Robyn after Ramsay nominated him. He was eliminated for his lack of communication on the fish station. Ramsay's comment: "Van always had one of the loudest voices here. Tonight, not only did he lose his voice, but also his dream of becoming my next Head Chef." Episode 15/16 Trivia * He is the son of the late Gertrude Elizabeth Vachon, who is best know for her wrestling name Luna Vachon. Season 6 Season 17 *He is the first contestant to score a perfect five on the new format of the Signature Dish Challenge without making it to the black jackets. *He is the only contestant to this date who was eliminated after being nominated by Ramsay twice. *His elimination came under fire from the fans of the show, as it had been his only bad service, and many fans thought Barbie or Elise should have been eliminated instead. Quotes Season 6 *(Referring to Season 3 Aaron) "Aaron is a sissy! Suck it up, fat boy!" *"It's game time!" *"I think sometimes, people underestimate me because I'm just a tattered up country boy, from Texas. But I'm a beer drinker with a sophisticated palette." *"Woooohooo!" *"I don't have any experience in the front house, but I have CHARISMA!! I have CHARISMA, and that's what's gonna get me through the service tonight!" *(To Tony) "NOW, LET'S GO!" *"Tony's running around like a little fly. Little Tony boy." *"Hell yeah, that shrimp was Van-licious tonight! They were loving it, they were eating it up. It's all about charisma and finesse. I wouldn't be having too much finesse when I dropped the pan, but they still loved it!" *(to Jean-Phillippe) "Don't touch me, bro! You better get outta my face!" *(To Jim) "I'd punch you in your face!... Suck my fucking dick!" *"PUSH!! PUSH ANDY, PUSH!" *"BLUE TEEEEEAAAAM! GO BLUE TEEEEAAAAAAM! YEEEEEEAAAAAH!" *"BLUE TEAM! FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!" *"PUNISHMENT SUCKS, I HATE PUNISHMENT!" *"Chef Ramsay's up there speaking French with Whistle Britches. Hon Hon Hon Hon!" *"Dave and Suzanne, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Season 17 *"Ratchet! Ratchet girls." *"I could charm the fangs off a rattlesnake." *(About Josh eating with VIP guest Paige Van Zant) "C'mon man, that ain't no punishment. He's up there like (makes kissing noises) GET THE FUCK BACK ON YOUR STATION BRO!!!!" Gallery Van All Star.jpg|Van on Season 17 (All-Stars) Category:Chef Category:Season 6 Category:All-Stars Category:Funniest Contestants Category:Black Jacket